Who's a dishonest boy then?

His clients knew it was a jungle out there, and trusted his keen financial advice.

But parrot-lover Lee Gardiner was more interested in the jungle in his own back yard.

The obsessive collector built up a collection of more than 100 exotic birds, which cost him a fortune to buy and to feed and maintain.

So he stole £2.1million from his employer, Lloyds TSB, and its customers to pay for his expensive hobby.

His massive collection ran to 30 rare species. Among them were blue and gold macaws, palm cockatoos worth £20,000 a pair, pesquet's parrots at £15,000 a pair and ganggang cockatoos, £25,000 a pair.

Last year, he built 20 lavish aviaries in the ten-acre grounds of

his house in Hever, Kent. Each features an indoor and outdoor section, heating and running water.

Yesterday, after pleading guilty to taking the money and being told he can expect a jail term, Gardiner said most of the money went on his birds.

'I spent it on looking after them, a lot of it on food. Collecting parrots is my hobby,' he said.

The court heard that Gardiner stole £2.1million from Lloyds TSB and its customers, many of them elderly, at its Sevenoaks High Street branch between 1998 and 2002.

As a trusted employee, he had access to the bank's main computer, which he used to transfer up to £41,500 a time out of customers' accounts. If questioned, he simply said he had taken the money to invest on the customer's behalf. He was caught only when he stole directly from the bank, transferring £900,000 into his girlfriend's account. Lloyds TSB became suspicious and contacted the police.

He spent £700,000 buying and feeding his parrots, and used some of the money to help buy four homes in Kent. But he did not live an otherwise lavish lifestyle, police said.

As treasurer until recently of the Avicultural Society, Gardiner is well known in bird-fancying circles. Soon after he fell under suspicion, he tried to offload his collection.

David Woolcock, curator of the Paradise Park Wildlife Sanctuary in Cornwall, said: 'He had a very good reputation and he certainly spent a lot of money.

'He always put the birds' welfare first, bought all his birds legally and above board.' Mr Woolcock said he could not buy any of the birds as they were too expensive but he passed Gardiner's details on to top zoos.

'He did try to place the birds in good homes because they meant a lot to him,' he added.

Raymond Sawyer, of the Avicultural Society, said Gardiner was one of the biggest collectors in Britain.

'He is a charming man,' he said. 'He was always very honest as a treasurer - he obviously had a bit of a brainstorm. We rather wondered where the money was coming from. I think he wanted to breed the birds to conserve the species.'

Outside Maidstone Crown Court, Detective Superintendent Adrian Brown, of Kent Police Fraud Squad, said Gardiner appeared honest but 'grossly misused' people's trust. 'He was trusted implicitly by a lot of customers who lost money. He was also highly trusted by the bank. He got intimate knowledge of his clients, a lot of whom were elderly or infirm, and worked out who would not be keeping an eye on their account.'

Gardiner admitted 24 counts of theft, and asked for 204 similar offences to be taken into account.

Judge Andrew Patience released him on bail to his parents' home until sentencing on September 1 and told him to expect a jail term.

A spokesman for Lloyds TSB insisted the bank 'takes security quite seriously' and said all the customers had been repaid.

Gardiner said he sold all his birds in an attempt to pay back the cash. 'I regret what has happened immensely,' he said.